Writing a friend or family member letter of support for immigration allows you to be a part of a loved one’s application, even if you aren’t the person sponsoring them. Providing details about the noncitizen applicant humanizes them and allows you to frame who the reader sees them as.
Naturally, you want your letter to be as helpful as possible. To help you do that, we list five tips below. Your letter should be organized, on point, specific, honest and polished.
Key Takeaways
- Your letter of support is your opportunity to present your loved one in the best light.
- Ensure your letter of support is organized and polished so the reader focuses on its content, not its format.
- Provide specific details, but coordinate your letter with the applicant to ensure you don’t contradict them.
What’s a letter of support?
A letter of support is a kind of reference letter for immigration purposes. When a noncitizen applies for certain immigration benefits or relief, they may ask their loved ones to write a letter to support the request.
Immigration benefits and immigration relief
Immigrant benefits include legal statuses or authorizations, like a green card, that a noncitizen may request from the U.S. government. Usually, you request immigration benefits from U.S. Immigration and Customs Services (USCIS).
You typically ask for immigration relief in removal (deportation) proceedings. Examples of immigration relief include:
- Cancelation of removal
- Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
- Deferred Enforced Departure (DED)
You might also request that the government waive issues with your immigration history that prevent you from qualifying for benefits.
Pro tip:
Some types of immigration relief overlap with immigration benefits, like asylum and withholding of removal and waivers. In short, benefits are affirmative and relief is defensive.
Contents of the immigration reference letter
In your immigration reference letter, you explain your relationship with the applicant and why you believe the government should grant the applicant’s request.
Generally, you want the letter to convince the reader that the applicant is a good person and the government should grant their request. Your letter won’t tackle all the reasons the government should approve their request but rather your personal knowledge.
In the letter, you may want to address the applicant’s relevant:
- Family ties
- Social and community ties
- Economic circumstances
- Health conditions and healthcare
You may also address issues related to conditions in their country of citizenship if you have particular knowledge about them.
Pro tip:
Your letter should focus on information you know personally. But before you start writing, speak with the applicant about what they’re applying for and what they’re hoping to use the letter for. That way, you can tailor it to their needs.
To guarantee your letter is usable for the applicant’s case, you may have the letter notarized or sign it under penalty of perjury. To sign under penalty of perjury, you include the following, replacing the words in brackets with the correct date and your signature:
- If you sign outside of the U.S.: “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on [date]. [Signature].”
- If you sign within the U.S.: “I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on [date]. [Signature].”
You may substitute “declare” for “certify,” “verify” or “state,” if you prefer.
Pro tip:
Officers and judges may have varying opinions about the importance of notarizing the letter or including the correct penalty of perjury declaration. Even though the applicant might be able to use the letter without the declaration, it’s safer to include it if in doubt.
Tip one: Be organized
Before you start writing, create a basic outline addressing the information you’ll cover. Bulleted lists may help more than long sentences in the outline.
Consider organizing your information in one of the following formats:
- By topic
- Chronological order
- Reverse chronological order
Your letter doesn’t need to be perfect. But the easier it is to follow, the more able the reader will be to focus on its substance.
Pro Tip:
Addressing your letter may inspire confusion. If you’re writing a letter for someone requesting immigration benefits from USCIS, you may address the letter with “Dear Officer” and include the officer’s name if you know it. A letter for someone requesting relief in immigration court should be addressed “Dear Honorable Immigration Judge” and the judge’s name, if you know it.
Tip two: Tie the letter to its specific purposes
As you write, focus on why the applicant asked you to write the letter. A letter to support someone’s green card application won’t look like a letter to support someone’s withholding request.
Ensure you truly understand what the letter is for. While you won’t do a deep dive into legal matters in your letter, knowing what the applicant is trying to prove means you may provide details that directly support their claim.
The role of discretion
When USCIS officers and immigration judges make decisions based on immigration law, they’re typically empowered to exercise discretion. Sometimes, this discretion means they grant certain forms of relief even if issues in the applicant’s history allow them to be deported. Other times, they may exercise discretion to make a close call—for better or worse.
Green card
When a noncitizen requests a green card, a support letter may focus on:
- Your family relationship with the applicant
- The applicant’s characteristics that would benefit the U.S. and its people
- Why any apparent concerns about the applicant shouldn’t prevent them from receiving benefits
Again, the letter must focus on your personal knowledge. Explaining why the applicant crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without documents ten years ago shouldn’t prevent them from getting benefits may involve explaining that they crossed to seek medical treatment for a sick child, for example.
Asylum
A person qualifies for asylum if they’ve been persecuted or reasonably fear persecution based on their actual or assumed:
- Race
- Religion
- Nationality
- Membership in a particular social group
- Political opinion
When writing a letter to support an asylum application, you may focus on:
- Your experiences or knowledge about the persecution or threat of persecution
- Your understanding of social groups in the applicant’s home country
- What you’ve observed about the applicant’s fear of returning to their home country
You may include other relevant information that would convince a judge or USCIS officer to sympathize with the applicant too.
Waiver
USCIS may grant waivers of unlawful presence to allow someone who spent time in the U.S. without legal status to return or remain. One basis for granting this waiver is that not allowing the person to return to or remain in the U.S. would cause extreme hardship to a qualifying relative.
A qualifying relative is typically a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (LPR) spouse or parent. A child may be a qualifying relative depending on the type of waiver you need. An applicant proves extreme hardship exists for waiver purposes if the hardship goes beyond common consequences of removal like:
- Family separation
- Economic harm
- Challenges adjusting or readjusting to life abroad
- The lack of comparable educational opportunities abroad
- Losing access to medical services and facilities
- Difficulties finding employment abroad
The reviewing officer evaluates the entire situation. Even if the above factors don’t amount to extreme hardship alone, they may in combination with other relevant factors.
So in a family member letter of support for immigration relief involving extreme hardship, you explain how the applicant’s absence would make your life significantly worse. Particularly, address whether you would leave the U.S. with the applicant should they have to go.
Pro tip
“Extreme hardship” and “qualifying relative” are used in several different immigration contexts. The level of hardship that qualifies as extreme is significantly less when the applicant is requesting a waiver than if they request, for example, cancellation of removal. Double-check that you know what the terms mean in their specific context.
Tip three: Provide context & be specific
Explain why you believe what you’re claiming—show your work, just like in math class.
Assume you’re writing a letter to support your sibling’s new spouse’s green card application. The spouse doesn’t have a job and your sibling’s financial situation is less than ideal, leading to public charge concerns—concerns about the applicant supporting themself in the U.S.
In your letter of support, you might say the spouse is a hard worker, followed by specific reasons you believe this. Maybe you know they’re a hard worker because you visited them in their home country and witnessed their helpful demeanor and constant need to be doing something.
Tip four: Disclose as appropriate
Tip four: Disclose as appropriate
Lying to the U.S. government risks serious criminal and immigration consequences. But of course, certain details aren’t relevant at certain times.
Assume the applicant is attempting to become a naturalized citizen. You’re aware that they’ve been convicted of two crimes related to marijuana possession.
Maybe you live in a state where marijuana is illegal and know the applicant still regularly uses it. When you write your letter, it may be better not to mention their convictions or marijuana use.
Now assume the applicant has the same convictions but hasn’t used marijuana for over ten years. Then, disclosing details about the applicant’s decision to become sober may be relevant.
Providing false information to the U.S. government can lead to serious criminal and immigration consequences. However, it’s important to understand that not all details are relevant at all times.
Consider a scenario where an applicant is applying to become a naturalized citizen and you know they may have previous convictions for certain offenses, including marijuana possession. In this scenario, these details would not be helpful to include in a support letter.
On the other hand, if the applicant has past convictions but hasn’t done anything illegal in over ten years, highlighting their good choices and their commitment to positive change may be relevant and beneficial to their application.
Pro tip:
How can you be sure you haven’t said too much or too little? Have the applicant—and their attorney—read through the letter before you finalize it.
Tip five: Edit and proofread
Tip five: Edit & proofread
One or two small issues aren’t likely to make or break your letter. It’s understandable to vary in English language skills, especially when it isn’t your first language. But don’t underestimate the importance of readability.
At worst, your reader may struggle to understand what you’re trying to say. Even if they understand, they may make subconscious judgments about your intelligence or knowledge. However unwarranted, those judgments may be avoided.
Don’t edit just for errors but for general readability. Break up large paragraphs and run-on sentences, provide headers and otherwise offer guideposts as needed. For example, you may turn the phrase “my letter of recommendation for immigration for a family member” into “my letter of support.”
Writing an effective letter
By following the above tips, you should create a strong, helpful letter of support. For further assistance, speak with the applicant’s lawyer or consider consulting a lawyer of your own. An immigration lawyer may advise you about what to include, help you draft the letter or read through it, provide feedback and help polish it.
